Recomp, Schmeecomp... lol
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birgitkwood
Posts: 486 Member
No offense, all you wonderful Maintainers.. but I don't care about "Recomping" and I'll bet I'm not the only one.
I'm 62 years old and have been "overweight" "fat," and "obese" since I was about 12. In those 50 years I have lost, and regained, probably about a thousand pounds and have NEVER managed to "Maintain," not even for a day. Each time in the past I would happily be plodding along losing weight effectively when suddenly some switch in my brain would toggle to the other side and I would start eating like crazy and gain weight again. Over and over...
So now, with the help of MFP and my on-line friends here, as well as TRACKING, I've successfully reached goal. Over the course of 14 months I have lost 120 lbs, and - most miraculously - have managed to stay at goal for over a month (I know - not very long, but still much longer than ever before for me).
So now I'm looking in the "Maintenance Support Community" and most of what I see is threads about recomping. I don't really know what that is! As I said, I'm 62 and yes - I'm flabby! In some ways my body looks like a bag of skin that a fat woman used to be in. In the past I used to care about that and that's partially what would then derail my weight loss efforts. This time around? Mehhh... not important! Yes, I have wrinkles. Yes, I have lose skin. Yes, I have bulges in areas that maybe I shouldn't. I don't care!
I track my food intake daily and I faithfully walk my dog every single day for at least 4 miles (takes us an hour). Somedays I walk more. Somedays I also swim. Somedays I also ride my bike. Somedays I play with my grandchildren and lift a 25+ lb toddler over my head - I consider that weightlifting. Somedays I dig in the garden. Somedays I even clean the house... lol
I don't want to exercise any more and I don't want to do anything else! If I live the rest of my days with lose flabby skin here and there, and a few wrinkles - then so be it. I feel 9000pct healthier than I did 120 lbs ago, and that's really all that matters to me at this stage in my life.
Life in my 60's... can't beat it!
I'm 62 years old and have been "overweight" "fat," and "obese" since I was about 12. In those 50 years I have lost, and regained, probably about a thousand pounds and have NEVER managed to "Maintain," not even for a day. Each time in the past I would happily be plodding along losing weight effectively when suddenly some switch in my brain would toggle to the other side and I would start eating like crazy and gain weight again. Over and over...
So now, with the help of MFP and my on-line friends here, as well as TRACKING, I've successfully reached goal. Over the course of 14 months I have lost 120 lbs, and - most miraculously - have managed to stay at goal for over a month (I know - not very long, but still much longer than ever before for me).
So now I'm looking in the "Maintenance Support Community" and most of what I see is threads about recomping. I don't really know what that is! As I said, I'm 62 and yes - I'm flabby! In some ways my body looks like a bag of skin that a fat woman used to be in. In the past I used to care about that and that's partially what would then derail my weight loss efforts. This time around? Mehhh... not important! Yes, I have wrinkles. Yes, I have lose skin. Yes, I have bulges in areas that maybe I shouldn't. I don't care!
I track my food intake daily and I faithfully walk my dog every single day for at least 4 miles (takes us an hour). Somedays I walk more. Somedays I also swim. Somedays I also ride my bike. Somedays I play with my grandchildren and lift a 25+ lb toddler over my head - I consider that weightlifting. Somedays I dig in the garden. Somedays I even clean the house... lol
I don't want to exercise any more and I don't want to do anything else! If I live the rest of my days with lose flabby skin here and there, and a few wrinkles - then so be it. I feel 9000pct healthier than I did 120 lbs ago, and that's really all that matters to me at this stage in my life.
Life in my 60's... can't beat it!
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Replies
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Good for you!
Everyone has different goals, and it looks like you are doing well!9 -
so why not ask what recomp is instead of just discrediting it? you can recomp even with "flabby skin" - its simply building lean muscle mass while losing BF at the same time8
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I'm 63 and I still look better than I did in my forties. I don't do the weight lifting thing either due to past injuries (not related).
The loose skin did get better for me over time, but some of it is just not going back to its original condition no matter what I do. It's okay, I don't wear my bikini anymore anyway.
I would say, keep logging food for at least six more months. Pay close attention to your weight still. I had some adjustment problems in the first year of maintenance and had a little trouble finding my maintenance range of calories.
Congrats. I hope it sticks for you this time.6 -
Sounds to me like the OP has maintenance down. Everyone is different and everyone has different goals. If you are happy then be happy. No need to feel any pressure to recomp, or lift heavy, or cardio, or whatever someone else is doing.
I lost 70 pounds and have maintained for about three years. Last winter I went over my range by five pounds and maintained that. I am now slowly working back down to my original goal weight.
The struggle is real. Maintenance is the achievement of the lessons learned during weight loss.7 -
Hopefully you've found the key to helping you maintain your weight loss. Many people find that when they get to the maintenance phase they don't have something to work towards and start slipping. Recomp gives them a goal, which helps keep them from regaining. Recomp is also important for some who have lost lean mass along the way and find that their maintenance calories are lower than is comfortable.
Not trying to tell you that you have to do it, just explaining why many on here are jumping into it as a method of maintenance. You do what works for you.14 -
Not trying to put you down OP, you've accomplished a lot and if recomp isn't your goal, more power to you.
But aside from improving body composition, resistance training is great for many reasons. A huge one, that is especially important as we get older, is general strength.
After working as an aid in a nursing home, this video really stuck with me - "Why Fitness Actually Matters" (getting off the toilet)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZRCkUzROr0
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TresaAswegan wrote: »Not trying to put you down OP, you've accomplished a lot and if recomp isn't your goal, more power to you.
But aside from improving body composition, resistance training is great for many reasons. A huge one, that is especially important as we get older, is general strength.
After working as an aid in a nursing home, this video really stuck with me - "Why Fitness Actually Matters" (getting off the toilet)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZRCkUzROr0
That's a great video. Thank you for posting it.5 -
Not discrediting, @deannalfisher - just not a goal of mine.3
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You dont know what it is... but you know its not for you? :huh:7
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I look at re-comp in two ways...
1 - a deliberate approach to changing one's physique
2 - a bi-product of just eating right and regular exercise.
I pretty much fall under #2. I didn't go to maintenance and say, "hey...I need to re-comp because I don't like the way my body looks." I went into maintenance a bit over 4.5 years ago and I just continued doing the exercise activity I was doing while I was losing weight...I continued to get into the weight room 2-3x per week...I continued to cycle...I continued to eat a quality diet but with a handful more calories. In 4.5 years my body has changed quite a bit though my weight has pretty much remained the same. It's not something I deliberately set out to do...it is simply a bi-product of what I do on the regular.12 -
@cwolfman13 - that I can totally get behind, and I agree! Hence the lifting of the toddler grandchild
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if you don't care about re-comping why are you ranting about it?9
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Congratulations on your loss. Recomp is not a necessity. Some people prefer it and some don't.
If you stay active you may find yourself doing it without even trying. And if not, so what?0 -
Your story is a lot like mine, op. I had a lifetime of weight losses that i couldn't sustain, and regains with an extra chunk. I hope that you've learned from this time, congratulations on maintaining for a month, great start.3
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TavistockToad wrote: »You dont know what it is... but you know its not for you? :huh:
my thoughts exactly...
I guess it falls into the definition - I know what it is when I see it...0 -
if you don't care about re-comping why are you ranting about it?
Ditto.
If you don't like it, don't do it - - but why then try to make a case against it in the very subforum where people come to discuss their desire and goal to do it?
Don't be surprised when your argument against recomping, which you view as unnecessary in your life, is unappreciated.
FWIW, I'm 66 and have sucessfully lost weight and recomped over the past 12 months dropping from 196# to 158# and reducing my BF from +20% down to below 9% and recomposing 12# of fat in the process.
It's something that took a lot of effort to accomplish and something that I am proud to have done, which can't be dimished by your protestation that such effort is unnecessary and impliedly of little or no consequence.
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It's something that took a lot of effort to accomplish and something that I am proud to have done, which can't be dimished by your protestation that such effort is unnecessary and impliedly of little or no consequence.if you don't care about re-comping why are you ranting about it?
This
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if you don't care about re-comping why are you ranting about it?
Ditto.
If you don't like it, don't do it - - but why then try to make a case against it in the very subforum where people come to discuss their desire and goal to do it?
Don't be surprised when your argument against recomping, which you view as unnecessary in your life, is unappreciated.
FWIW, I'm 66 and have sucessfully lost weight and recomped over the past 12 months dropping from 196# to 158# and reducing my BF from +20% down to below 9% and recomposing 12# of fat in the process.
It's something that took a lot of effort to accomplish and something that I am proud to have done, which can't be dimished by your protestation that such effort is unnecessary and impliedly of little or no consequence.
Well of course the OP saying recomp is not for her couldn't diminish what you have done. I mean, how would it?7 -
Congratulations on meeting your goals, and your thread title makes me laugh. I think it's perfectly fine to do exactly what you're doing, so keep on keeping on.
But I think the reason you're seeing so much info here about "recomp" is that a lot of us hit our goal weight and then say to ourselves, "now what?" So we find a new goal to work towards, we find new ways to improve our bodies and our appearance. I find straight maintenance to be weirdly challenging. Mentally, it's MORE difficult for me than losing was, because it feels like I'm not aiming for anything. Recomping gives me a new goal to strive for and it keeps me focused.6 -
JeepHair77 wrote: »Congratulations on meeting your goals, and your thread title makes me laugh. I think it's perfectly fine to do exactly what you're doing, so keep on keeping on.
But I think the reason you're seeing so much info here about "recomp" is that a lot of us hit our goal weight and then say to ourselves, "now what?" So we find a new goal to work towards, we find new ways to improve our bodies and our appearance. I find straight maintenance to be weirdly challenging. Mentally, it's MORE difficult for me than losing was, because it feels like I'm not aiming for anything. Recomping gives me a new goal to strive for and it keeps me focused.
Thank you, Jeephair77 - that makes sense to me! And who knows, the day may come when I'll join all of you in the recomp camp . But for now... Just gonna keep on doing what I'm doing.
And truly, truly - my intent was not to offend anyone!! It's just that I was confused about so many threads in the "maintenance" section being about recomping. Guess if I were looking for info on recomp, I'd have looked in "fitness and exercise." Again, Jeephair, thanks for the explanation.
But mostly - congrats to all of you on striving for, and reaching your goals! Lots of blood, sweat and tears go into that and not for one minute do I want to diminish that!
Peace out, Friends9
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